Pak claims to have shot down Indian drone

PTIJun 8, 2002, 11.02am IST

ISLAMABAD: Hours after US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage described the Indo-Pak tension "a bit down on both sides", Pakistan on Saturday claimed to have shot down an Indian unmanned aerial vehicle late Friday night about 14 miles inside its territory.

Government spokesman Maj Gen Rashid Quereshi said a fighter jet shot down the plane, identified as a "drone" used for reconnaissance, at 2300 hrs near Raiwind-Kasur Road at the Indo-Pak borders in Punjab province.

The plane fell near Haveli Dogran and caught fire. The Pakistan Army reached the spot soon after the incident and cordoned off the whole area.

No one was injured in the incident, Quereshi said adding that no civil officer was allowed to get close to the place of occurrence.

He said the alleged plane incident was the latest example of India's "complete disregard" for "international norms".

The Pakistan Air Force officials have also confirmed the shooting down of the unmanned plane.